🇵🇭 Philippines' proposed ICO rules presume all tokens are securities unless proven otherwise

The Philippines' Securities and Exchange Commission published draft rules governing ICOs and is now seeking public feedback before they can go into effect. The regulations notably assume that tokens issued in all ICOs are securities by default unless the issuers can prove otherwise. The regulator said it would be "dangerous" to let investors make judgments over the matter since they don't have sufficient resources to identify which ICOs might be scams. Under the proposed rules, companies hoping to ICO would have to submit an initial assessment application to the SEC at least 90 days ahead of the issuance and the application must contain a review of the ICO proposal and its credibility as well as a legal opinion from an independent third party to justify why the token is not a security. If an ICO is only to be issued to a maximum of 20 people or will be limited to institutional investors such as banks, insurance and investment firms, it could be exempted from the registration requirement.